Around 56% of houses and buildings inspected so far in the area of Abruzzo hit by the April 6 earthquake are inhabitable, the Civil Protection Department said Monday.
The department has carried out inspections on just under 7,500 homes, public buildings, schools, hospitals and barracks.
It said a further 17% of buildings would be inhabitable following minor interventions.
Around 20% were completely uninhabitable, while the remainder were partially or temporarily uninhabitable.
Earlier in the day Abruzzo Governor Gianni Chiodi said around 70% of homes were inhabitable or would be after minor interventions, but that people currently housed in tent camps or at hotels on the Abruzzo coast were still too scared to return.
''Nobody wants to go back to their homes. At the moment terror is stronger than any other consideration and people are still afraid,'' he said as aftershocks continued two weeks after the main quake that killed almost 300 people.
Inspectors are first checking buildings which appear to be stable while the center of this city and neighboring towns, where the damage from the April 6 earthquake is most evident, have been cordoned off and will be inspected later.
